Present-day passenger automotive vehicles are generally equipped with at least two types of interior lighting. One type typically provides general illumination for ingress and egress, while another type usually provides focused light for reading maps and such. For general illumination, dome lamps are commonly located in a conventional roof interior, and/or roof rail lamps may be included along the side roof rail areas.
For unconventional roofs, such as convertible tops, targa tops, movable roofs and glass roofs, dome lamps and roof rail lamps may not be feasible. Typically, in these situations, other types of interior lighting are used for ingress and egress, such as rear view mirror reading lights. As previously noted, however, reading lights are typically focused, and do not generally provide a broad pattern of illumination.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an alternative lighting arrangement that would be appropriate for ingress and egress illumination in vehicles with either conventional (fixed) or removable roof configurations.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an interior lighting device that can illuminate a passenger automotive vehicle interior for ingress and egress, regardless of the type of vehicle roof configuration. In addition, it is desirable to provide an interior lighting device that is convenient and economical to install. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.